Dear Fellow Resident

Hello - I'm your artist in residence - literally - in Courtenay Street. I'd like to work with you, the other residents,

to create some art works that reflect the experience of living in Courtenay Street/Kennington/London. All you

have to do is have a chat with me! It doesn't matter if you've been here for decades or just a few months. I've

been here at no. 52 for 18 years.

Normally an Artist in Residence scheme allows artists time and space away from their usual environment and

obligations and provides a stimulation or provocation for work, research, reflection that comes from their new

environment. But I wondered whether artists really react to their own environment or only to an 'artistic' one?

Are we too cocooned in a peer-group of other artists and creatives and not really connecting to the world we

live in - too busy going off to be resident elsewhere and experience other things and not interested in just the

'ordinary' lives we might be leading at home?

I'm interested in 'ordinary' life - the bit in the middle - not the extremes of poverty, deprivation, underworld, nor

the super-rich, super-famous and glamorous. I think there is often just as much 'extra-ordinary' in the people

living their lives along the bit in the middle of all that.

So this is an experiment. I make work in a variety of media but at the moment I'm particularly interested in

collage and paperworks and also small series of black and white drawings. I'd like to talk to you about life in

Courtenay Street and use that conversation as inspiration for a work of art.

We might find as we go along that there are other things that an Artist in Residence might do in Courtenay

Street and I'm happy to discuss these.

If you are interested in taking part in this experiment please get in touch:

Phone: 07957 145992

Email: thetalentshop@hotmail.co.uk

Or put a note through the door at no. 52

I work for a charity two days a week and spend one day a week with my 90 year old mother. But that still leaves

plenty of time during both the day, evening and at weekends when I can either come and chat to you, or you

can come round and chat to me.

Some examples of my work and previous projects are on the back of this letter.

Best wishes

Deborah Mason

Examples of recent work:

Collages above from my Collage 365 series

Collages that are part of my children’s ranges (sold on Etsy) ‘Fantastic Beasts, Mythical Creatures & Magical

People’ and personalised initial letters.

Black & White Drawings in series: MacBoudica, Illustrations for a story not yet told, River Tarot.

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Reportage drawings,

left & middle,

‘Participation on

Trial’, right – Tour de

France crowds.